What Truly Matters
by No Guns Only Roses
Summary: Donnie ends up in a post-apocalyptic world and meets someone who teaches him the importance of family. Crossover between the 2003 series and the 2012 series.


**To all those who read my fic "Mourning" and favored/reviewed it, I'm so sorry! I deleted it because I thought it was a bit extreme and graphic. So let me make it up to you by submitting another fic.**

One moment Donatello was fighting the Kraang alongside his brothers. The next he ended up in some post-apocalyptic dimension.

The skies were grey and filthy from all the smoke that was rising out of the chemical plants. A lot of buildings and apartments were in ruins, as if some war had taken place.

He wasn't sure what city he was in, or if he was even still on Earth. He wanted to ask the people who were passing by on the streets, but he decided to remain hidden in the alley. After all, these locals might freak at the sight of a humanoid turtle walking around and asking for directions. There might not even be mutants in this dimension.

He pulled out his T-phone and tried once again to contact his brothers. There was still no reception.

Sighing in defeat, Donnie slumped against the brick wall and slid down. He rubbed his temples as he tried to get his thoughts together.

"They'll find me," he whispered to himself. "They always do. I just have to…sit here and wait. Don't move from this spot. Don't…"

" **HEY! THAT'S MY SPOT, PAL!** "

Suddenly a very dirty, and very angry, hobo charged at Donnie with a baseball bat in his hand.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Donnie stumbled backwards away from the crazed man. "Hey, take it easy!"

The hobo continued to scream and charge at him, wildly waving his bat around. " **GET OUTTA OF MY HOUSE! GET OUT!** "

Donnie had no choice but to run out of the alley and straight into the streets. He didn't stop running, though, and he could hear people crying out in shock as he passed by.

 _Gotta get out of this city and away from these people. Hopefully they'll be a park or something._

And sure enough, there was a park just ahead of him, though he thought it looked more like a graveyard. Most of the trees were dead, and there wasn't a living thing in sight. Not even a squirrel.

As he got deeper into the woods, Donnie began to realize just how lucky he was to have a more lively and beautiful park back in New York. The dead trees here just added to the gloominess and depression that he felt in this dimension.

Hopefully his brothers will find him soon. He felt sorry for the people who lived in such a dark and broken world.

He eventually reached a fenced in area, and sitting in front of what looked like a narrow tombstone was a hooded figure in a tattered brown cloak.

For some reason, Donnie felt a sense of…familiarity around this person. But he's never even been to this place before. So why was he…?

Before he knew it, he was moving closer to the figure. "Um," he said softly, "hello?"

The mysterious person turned his head and looked at Donnie, his white eyes bearing into Donnie's auburn ones. He stood up and faced the teenage Turtle, removing his hood and revealing a green wrinkled face with a purple ninja mask.

Donnie couldn't believe it.

It was another version of himself.

Though this Donatello was a whole lot bigger and older than he was. He appeared to be in his late forties or early fifties. There were battle scars all over his legs, and both of his hands had been replaced with rusty robotic ones.

It was awkwardly silent for a while, before the other Donatello spoke in a low, raspy voice.

"So, you're Donatello?"

"Y-yes," Donnie stuttered, still trying to process all of this within his mind. "And…and are you?"

The older Turtle chuckled bitterly. "I used to be. But now I'm just…nobody."

"Um, what do you mean by that?"

"I'm nothing but a waste of space. A scumbag who's not even worth the dust you're standing on. I had everything a guy could ever want: a home, a loving family, and friends that were worth keeping. And then I carelessly threw it all away."

Donatello moved aside and let Donnie see what was inscribed on the tombstone. To his horror, the words read "SPLINTER". And leaning against the stone was a cane with three other ninja mask tied around it. The colors were blue, red, and orange.

"It…," Donnie whimpered as tears burned his eyes, "it can't be."

"Can be and is," Donatello quietly said. "And the person responsible for it all is standing right in front of you."

Donnie walked closer to the tombstone and then collapsed to his knees in front of it. This had to be a nightmare.

"What happened?" he asked in a whisper.

Donatello closed his eyes and a painful expression appeared on his face.

"About thirty years ago, I met this beautiful woman from another world. Her name was Jhanna. Although we met for only one day, I fell head over heels for her. I never met a woman like her before or ever since. After she left, I just couldn't stop thinking about her."

He then pulled out a large blue braided ponytail from out of his robe and held it for Donnie to see.

"As the time went on, I became more and more anxious to see her again. It got to the point where I wanted to go out and find her, even if it meant leaving my family behind. I figured, 'Well, I'll only be gone for a few weeks at most, and if I just saw her face again, it'd be enough for me and then I'll head straight home.' But I just couldn't say anything to my brothers. I knew that if I did, they'd protest against it and try to persuade me to stay. So I left the lair one day without saying goodbye or even writing a note."

Donatello sat down on the floor and continued to gingerly hold the hair close to his chest.

"It took a lot longer than I thought to find her home planet. About ten years, in fact. But by the time I found her, she already had a royal consort. She fell in love with someone else."

Donnie began feel sympathy for Donatello, for he, too, was madly in love with someone: April O'Neil. And the thought of losing her to Jones scared him to the point that he'd have nightmares. He couldn't imagine how Donatello must've felt when he saw Jhanna with someone else.

"So, what did you do afterwards?" Donnie couldn't help but ask.

"I wanted to go back home," Donatello looked up at him sadly, "but I was too scared and ashamed to. I was very selfish for leaving them like that, and I just couldn't face them again. So I became an space nomad, wandering from one world to the next. Some worlds were friendly." He held up his robotic hands. "Others not so much."

Donnie gulped as he let those words sink in.

"After twenty years of traveling across space, my loneliness overcame my insecurities, and I finally decided to go back. By the time I arrived here, though, my brothers and most of my friends were already dead. They were all killed by the Shredder. Leo, Raph, and Mikey were buried here with Master Splinter."

Donatello knelt beside Donnie and gently touched the tombstone and colored masks with his fingers.

"According to what April told me, Mikey was the only one who died quickly. Raph and Leo weren't so lucky, and their deaths were slow and painful."

The larger Turtle looked at Donnie and smirked. "You know, it's funny. You aren't the first alternate Donatello to have visited this dimension."

Donnie's brown eyes widened. "Really?"

Donatello nodded. "Another Donatello arrived and helped everyone free the world from the Shredder before disappearing. Can you believe it? A Donatello that didn't even belong in this world cleaned up the mess that _I_ made. Pathetic, isn't it? _I_ should've been the one fighting alongside them."

Donatello hung his head in shame and covered his face with his hand.

"I was so overwhelmed with guilt that I actually thought of ways to kill myself."

Donnie's face became pale, but then he felt sorry for the older Turtle and reached to give him a comforting hand on the shoulder. Donatello merely shrugged it off and continued on.

"But then I realized that I don't deserve the comforts that death would bring. No, I made it my own punishment to continue to live in the hell that I've created for myself. And every day I come here as a reminder of my selfish actions that ultimately caused my brothers' deaths."

Silence filled the air as both Donatellos stared at the grave together.

Then all of a sudden a triangle-shaped dimensional portal opened behind them. They turned and saw Mikey jumping out of the purplish light. The freckled Turtle beamed at the sight of his gap toothed brother.

"DONNIE!"

Mikey immediately ran to him and gave him a bear hug, lifting him off the ground.

"Donnie, you're okay!"

"Hey, bro!"

Leo and Raph joined in on the hug, completely engulfing him.

 _They found me._

Donnie's eyes filled with tears and he rested his cheek on top of Mikey's head while wrapping his arms around Leo and Raph.

"Hey, little brothers."

The Turtles broke out of their group hug and turned to look at Donatello, who smiled at them fondly.

"Donnie, is that…?" Mikey stared wide eyed at the elderly Turtle.

"Yes, Mikey," Donnie said. "This is Donatello, too."

Leo took a step forward and politely offered his hand to Donatello. "Um, hello, Donatello," he said. "Nice to meet you."

Donatello took Leo's hand and shook it. "You have no idea how happy this makes me. Even though you're technically not my brothers…I…"

His voice trailed off and he pulled the hood over his head, but the others could still see a silver tear slide down his cheek. Their hearts broke at the sound of his sobs and the sight of his shoulders shaking.

"I'm sorry," he choked, and his sobs grew even louder."It's just that…seeing you here…it's selfish of me to act this way, especially after everything I've done…but still…I…I miss my brothers so much! I can't even…!"

Mikey didn't hesitate to run to the weeping Turtle and wrap his arms around him. Donatello was shocked at first but then he hugged the little Turtle back and cried in his shoulder. The other Turtles smiled at the heartwarming scene before them.

After a short while, Donatello wiped his eyes and smiled up at Mikey. "Mikey," he softly said, "don't ever change who you are. Keep being the loveable, funny guy that you are. Never stop smiling, no matter what."

Mikey smiled tearfully at him and nodded.

Donatello then looked directly at Raph. "Raph, always keep your temper in check. If you're feeling angry, don't take it out on your brothers or turn away from them. Instead let them help quench the fire within you."

Raph smirked and nodded at Donatello.

"Leo, always keep your brothers on the right path, no matter how many times they may want to argue with you or question your leadership. And try not to be such a brown noser to Master Splinter all the time," he chuckled at the last part.

Leo laughed along with him and nodded.

Donatello got off the ground and walked to Donnie, looking down at him with a serious expression on his face.

"Listen to me carefully. Don't EVER take your family for granted. They are the most important people in your life. They'll always be there for you, so be there for _them_ , no matter what. Don't ever abandon them for anything, not even for the love of a woman. Because romantic love can easily fade away, but the love of a family is strong and lasts forever. Focus on what truly matters in life. Do you understand?"

Donnie stared at Donatello for a moment before firmly nodding his head.

"Come on, guys," Leo said as he gestured toward the portal, "let's go home."

The Turtle bid Donatello goodbye and walked into the portal, with Donnie being the last to leave. He looked back at Donatello and gave him one last wave with a warm smile. The elder Turtle waved back and watched him disappear along with the portal, leaving him all alone in the park.

"Donny!"

He saw an older April running towards him in the distance. "What was that light just now?" she asked as she finally approached him and tried to catch her breath.

Donatello smiled at her and said, "A second chance."

"Huh?" she looked at him confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'll explain on the way, April."

* * *

Donnie yawned as he stretched out the kink in his neck. He closed a program on his computer and was met with the usual photo of April smiling at him on the screen.

He smiled fondly at it but then frowned and remembered the last words that the other Donatello told him.

Ever since he first met April, she was the center of his universe. He'd do anything for her, even, and he was ashamed to admit this, abandon his own brothers. He indeed did that once, on the day April first met Casey. He regretted leaving his brothers to fight the Kraang by themselves while he went off on his own to find April. He had to get his priorities straight soon, otherwise he was doomed to live the miserable life of the other Donatello, all alone and full of regrets.

He went to his settings and clicked on another picture to use for the desktop wallpaper. A photo of him and his brothers instantly appeared on the screen.

Things were going to be different from now on. He was going to focus on what really matters.

 **Donnie left his brothers behind during the episode "Target April O'Neil" in case you are wondering.**


End file.
